Palm Beach Weekly Wrap Up 4-30-2017

What a fantastic week and month of April just wrapped up at The Palm Beach Kennel Club!  We now have a new worldwide superstar champion after the Spring Puppy Stakes finished up and a boatload of memories to look back on from an unforgettable stakes season.

Here's the top stories we saw from the previous week at "The Beach."

Char Vallon Runs Away With The Puppy Stakes

After a tournament that had many unpredictable outcomes, we all should have known in the Final that an upset was coming.

Char Vallon from the Douglas Kennel cruised to a rather easy victory in the 51st Annual Bob Balfe Puppy Stakes on Saturday, bolting to the lead immediately and never turning back.  Her scintillating winning time of 29.32 secs was the fastest in the history of this prestigious tournament and made her an overnight sensation with her speedy romp.

Vallon who wasn't a household name coming into this tournament and was overlooked by many as having a great chance in this Final proved all the doubters wrong and rewarded her backers at nearly 7-1 odds.

Record Year (pictured) from the Lester Raines Kennel finished 2nd, while Vallon's sister Char Draper rounded out the trifecta in 3rd.  Barts UpFront took the last board spot in 4th.

This was the first victory for the Douglas Kennel in this tourney since 2006 with Ron Cunningham.  Led by their outstanding trainer with Justin "Incredible" Douglas, their team has been on quite the roll since the season started.  Douglas right now is the clear front runner for the Kennel Championship chase with two months left, something their team hasn't won since all the way back in 1990.

Congrats to Char Vallon and her team on winning the 20K Puppy Stakes!

Stakes Season Favorite Moments

The five month bonanza that is stakes season at Palm Beach is now complete.  After five championships and nearly $200,000 in prize money given out, we've seen some incredible moments along the way.  Lets take a look back at the biggest stories we saw.

Besides Pat C Rendezvous breaking world records during her 36 race winning streak in 1994, what Janice Dean from the Brindle Kennel did for the sport and for PBKC is unmatched.  She took the 50K He's My Man Classic and 50K Derby Title during this stakes season, but it was her spot on Fox and Friends back on February 13th that will forever be remembered.

Dean also tried to complete the first Triple Crown since 2003 at Palm Beach, setting up one of the most watched and talked about stakes finals ever with the St Pats Invitational.  She finished 4th in that race, but the three month journey she took her fans on with her run was simply remarkable.

Best Stakes Final

No question the St Pats Final is at the top of the list.  With all the focus on Janice Dean and the Triple Crown, season wins leader Fraulein Morgan from the Janice Carroll Kennel put on a show for the ages, edging out Whirlin Toodlelu by literally an eyelash. The photo after the race tells it all:

Replay of the St Pats Final: http://www.trackinfo.com/video-box.jsp?raceid=gPB%2420170318A12

AllAboutTheFame Victorious In The Futurity

Of course we can't forget about the youngster that started it all.  AllAboutTheFame from owner Monte Jacobs took the 20K Futurity Tournament the day after Christmas, exploding for the 29.46 secs winning trek. Fame is currently running down in Mardi Gras, but should return soon to "The Beach" after their season wraps up.

Kennel owner Crystal Carroll also gave us one of the best pics of stakes season with a little kiss for her new champion after AllAboutTheFame's victory.

Stakes Are Over....Now What?

You know that feeling after Christmas when all the presents are open, family has gone back home and all the egg nog has been drank?  It's just over and it's a bit weird for a little while wondering what now?  That's how some hard cores like yours truly feels when stakes season ends.

Yes it is true that all the big money has now been given out but that doesn't mean the show is over.  Not by a long shot. Here's the stories to watch out for the last two months of the season:

Kennel Championship

The championship has been heating up the last few months and continues to get even tighter in each passing week.

The Douglas Kennel has led this chase from the beginning.  At the end of racing Sunday, they had compiled 696 victories.  But coming on like a freight train is the 11 time champs from Rader Racing, who sit just 66 wins behind with 630.  Also last years champs B & B Racing (pictured) & the ever popular Koppe, Staats & Collins team are also within striking distance.

Mothers & Fathers Day Award Features

I always look forward to these features that matches up the top 8 female sprinters competing for the pink blanket on Mothers Day, while the top 8 male sprinters have an all out throw down on Fathers Day.

Rooney's Memorial Day Feature

Always a hotly contested race on this holiday, with top sprinters putting it all out there for a huge audience.  Little known last year at the time Sentinel won this $2500 Feature at a stunning 23-1 odds.

Fabulous Fraulein

With the track championship already locked up, fans will still want to keep their eye on Fraulein Morgan as we head into these last two months.  She is set to retire sometime this summer, so catch every glimpse you can of her while she is still ruling the 3/8ths Mile Course.  She's currently at 31 victories and has an outside chance of getting to the 40 mark before it is all set and done.

That's all we have for this week.  We'll see you next time for the Wrap Up!